Trying to spawn an actor from Construction Script

Why: Construction Script runs in the editor before the world is fully loaded. Spawning actors here is unsupported because the receiving world might not exist yet. Fix: Move the Spawn Actor node from Construction Script to Event BeginPlay. BeginPlay runs at runtime when the world is ready and other actors can be spawned safely.

Spawn actor at location with collision handling

Pattern: Trigger → SpawnActorFromClass(Class, MakeTransform(Location, Rotation, Scale), CollisionHandling, Owner) → ReturnValue → IsValid branch → use spawned actor. Always check IsValid on ReturnValue. For many spawns, spread across frames with timer to avoid hitches.

SpawnActorFromClass — spawn a new Actor into the world

Cast ReturnValue to the specific class to access its properties.

Spawn Actor

Creates a new Actor instance at runtime. Pass a Class Reference + Transform + Owner. Use BeginSpawnActor for deferred init.

Spawn actor at location with rotation

Pattern: MakeTransform(Location=SpawnLocation, Rotation=SpawnRotation, Scale=(1,1,1)) → SpawnActorFromClass(Class=ActorClass, SpawnTransform=Transform) → CastTo<YourClass>(ReturnValue). SpawnActorFromClass inputs: 'ActorClass', 'SpawnTransform' (Transform), not separate Location/Rotation. Use MakeTransform node to build the Transform struct from Location+Rotation+Scale.

BeginPlay

Fires once on actor spawn (after construction). Use for setup that needs other actors in the world to exist.

Event BeginPlay — fires once when actor is spawned or game starts

Object pooling pattern for frequently spawned actors like projectiles

Pattern: PoolManager with Array<AActor*> AvailablePool. Init: loop SpawnActor N times → SetActorHiddenInGame(true) → SetActorEnableCollision(false) → Array_Add to pool. GetFromPool: Array_Length > 0 → remove last → SetHidden(false) → SetCollision(true) → SetActorLocation → return. ReturnToPool: SetHidden(true) → SetCollision(false) → Array_Add back.

Create a Blueprint Actor that plays a sound and spawns a particle effect at its location when destroyed

SpawnEmitterAtLocation — spawn a legacy Cascade particle system

Legacy Cascade system. Prefer Niagara (SpawnSystemAtLocation) for new projects.